Coaches named in ISU release

[KidSilverhair]

I haven't read through this entire thread so apologies if this has been said, but the Ames Tribune is running circles around the Des Moines Register in terms of quality reporting of this story. The Register is getting hung up on the word "major" (Bryce Miller's column is particularly embarrassing in this regard) and whining about transparency while the Tribune is reporting it out much more in depth and providing context, telling people in practical terms what this all actually means.

From what I've read so far, the Ames Tribune and Keith Murphy (on his blog) seem to have it about right. This is not nothing, and can't just be casually dismissed. Yet it's really not that serious, and seems likely to be more of a temporary black eye than anything truly damaging.

You should see the reporting on this in Eastern Iowa/Hawkeye Central. On KCRG this morning, the report was about the NCAA report (which doesn't exist yet, remember) calling the violations "major" after Iowa State only classified them as minor. They also said ISU had already served two years of probation, but could face loss of scholarships from the NCAA.

My wife thought it was funny when I talked back to the TV. Admittedly, the two morning hosts are women who probably know next to nothing about sports outside Iowa City, but their story was so wrong, on so many obvious levels (the only report that exists right now CAME FROM IOWA STATE ITSELF, and it admits the violations are "major" under NCAA classification; while ISU has disciplined members of the coaching staff, the two-year probation is what they are asking the NCAA for; and yes, loss of scholarships is technically possible, but probably remote).

The Gazette is enjoying writing misleading headlines about this, too.

 

[CYUL8R]

Use ISU as the model - make every school conduct the same level of investigation, and then mete out punishments correlating to the level of rulebreaking on an overall scale. I GUARANTEE that ISU would be in the lower 5% of all schools...for sure one of the lowest in the Big XII.

That's why this is so laughable - of course it looks bad, because there is nothing to compare it to. Take some of the top 25 teams in Football and Basketball (Mens and Womens) and apply the same criteria, and this all looks like an April fool's joke.

Honestly, I'm not worried - the NCAA has bigger fish to fry, and Hoiberg has quite a bit of political capital that he earned by blowing the whistle...it won't amount to anything. Once again, the Mayor saved ISU.

 

[halaleezy]

In the interests of full disclosure, I'm a Baylor fan. This is not a big deal. So much so, that the things ISU is being accused of aren't even violations anymore. You guys will probably reduce a scholarship for one year in both MBB and FB and be on probation for two years, self-recommended, and the NCAA will agree that is sufficient.

I do think it's a little ironic, given how many "Drew is a cheater!" threads you guys start, but again, there's no need to get worked up over these supposed "major" violations.

 

[Rabbuk]

In the interests of full disclosure, I'm a Baylor fan. This is not a big deal. So much so, that the things ISU is being accused of aren't even violations anymore. You guys will probably reduce a scholarship for one year in both MBB and FB and be on probation for two years, self-recommended, and the NCAA will agree that is sufficient.

I do think it's a little ironic, given how many "Drew is a cheater!" threads you guys start, but again, there's no need to get worked up over these supposed "major" violations.

I always said Scott Drew is a cheater because he gets 5 star players to go to Waco, while everyone else is just trying to get out of Waco.

 

[LivntheCyLife]

so how is that illegal? only one coach can be there?

I think Moore was a volunteer/student assistant (I'm not 100% sure of the difference between student and just volunteer) not one of the 3 paid assistants. I believe only paid assistants can recruit off campus.

 

[klamath632]

In the interests of full disclosure, I'm a Baylor fan. This is not a big deal. So much so, that the things ISU is being accused of aren't even violations anymore. You guys will probably reduce a scholarship for one year in both MBB and FB and be on probation for two years, self-recommended, and the NCAA will agree that is sufficient.

I do think it's a little ironic, given how many "Drew is a cheater!" threads you guys start, but again, there's no need to get worked up over these supposed "major" violations.

I think you're confusing the "Drew is a terrible coach" and "Drew and his timeouts" threads with the cheating threads.

 

[Psyclone Brian]

Use ISU as the model - make every school conduct the same level of investigation, and then mete out punishments correlating to the level of rulebreaking on an overall scale. I GUARANTEE that ISU would be in the lower 5% of all schools...for sure one of the lowest in the Big XII.

That's why this is so laughable - of course it looks bad, because there is nothing to compare it to. Take some of the top 25 teams in Football and Basketball (Mens and Womens) and apply the same criteria, and this all looks like an April fool's joke.

Honestly, I'm not worried - the NCAA has bigger fish to fry, and Hoiberg has quite a bit of political capital that he earned by blowing the whistle...it won't amount to anything. Once again, the Mayor saved ISU.

Very nice post. Look, I have friends that are assistant coaches at the University of Iowa in football and one in men's basketball. They told me yesterday that they do the same things that ISU blew the whistle on themselves for, but will be darned if they turn themselves in for it. I asked him why, and the response was bold and clear. They said that every team in the country is guilty for it in one way or another (on a daily basis) ,and that the infraction ranks up there with accidentally running a stop sign with no cop around. I asked what they thought about the penalty phase, and they all shrugged and basically had no answer. But the bewilderment was more towards "what if" the NCAA checked the phone logs of "ALL" schools? The entire country would probably be on probation. Sure it pays to be honest, but it's another thing to make an honest mistake. Most of the infraction police who work for the NCAA, their jobs depend on imposing infractions on schools. In the grand scheme of things, I don't know, and I'm not going to guess.

 

[binsfeldcyhawk2]

Very nice post. Look, I have friends that are assistant coaches at the University of Iowa in football and one in men's basketball. They told me yesterday that they do the same things that ISU blew the whistle on themselves for, but will be darned if they turn themselves in for it. I asked him why, and the response was bold and clear. They said that every team in the country is guilty for it in one way or another (on a daily basis) ,and that the infraction ranks up there with accidentally running a stop sign with no cop around. I asked what they thought about the penalty phase, and they all shrugged and basically had no answer. But the bewilderment was more towards "what if" the NCAA checked the phone logs of "ALL" schools? The entire country would probably be on probation. Sure it pays to be honest, but it's another thing to make an honest mistake. Most of the infraction police who work for the NCAA, their jobs depend on imposing infractions on schools. In the grand scheme of things, I don't know, and I'm not going to guess.

BS....I call BS because if you actually were "friends" with folks on the Iowa staff you wouldn't have posted this...BS I say.

 

[Cydkar]

I vaguely remember that. It was Marty Tirrell, wasn't it? Though I don't recall specific timing.

That doesn't sound like something Marty would do/say.

 

[Cydkar]

BS....I call BS because if you actually were "friends" with folks on the Iowa staff you wouldn't have posted this...BS I say.

While probably true, if all schools were investigated I'd be surprised if any came out unscathed. Why? Because these things are BFD.

 

[Psyclone Brian]

BS....I call BS because if you actually were "friends" with folks on the Iowa staff you wouldn't have posted this...BS I say.

If only you knew who I am. Don't judge.

 

[BloodyBuddy]

I think you're confusing the "Drew is a terrible coach" and "Drew and his timeouts" threads with the cheating threads.

Or Drew is a total ******

 

[isu81]

If only you knew who I am. Don't judge.

No idea if you're full of &^%$ or not, but love the use of the "Do you know who I am?" card on an anonymous message board.

 

[klamath632]

If only you knew who I am. Don't judge.

No idea if you're full of &^%$ or not, but love the use of "Do you know who I am?" on an anonymous message board.

You quoted what he said, and then criticized him for different words that he didn't even write. Lol.

 

[Cycsk]

I wish that some reporter, especially the ones that whine about transparency, to compare our level of disclosure to the industry standard and common practices of most other schools. We may get dinged a bit now, but I think we are ahead of the blast that may come when the transparency advocates really get to the bottom of what is going on in other institutions. Can you imagine what it is like at Texas? Or Florida? Or even EIU? Comparatively, we are squeeky clean. Hopefully, someday, we get credit for it.

 

[Cycsk]

I'm also wondering how much of the problem isn't even the improper calls or unlogged calls, but the attitude of some of the coaches during the audit. I know how I would be if confronted with not logging a dropped call. I would say that iw as a stupid rule! I can imagine Shane Burnham saying something like this or saying that he didn't know that he was supposed to log dropped calls because it is hard enough to remember all the rules that make sense. And then it shows up in the report.

I wish that the reporters would just give the relevant facts. If Miller is going to write an article about the violations being "major," why didn't he make reference to the statement by an NCAA rep who said described this as being about as minor as it could be in the "major" category?

 

[Trice]

I'm also wondering how much of the problem isn't even the improper calls or unlogged calls, but the attitude of some of the coaches during the audit. I know how I would be if confronted with not logging a dropped call. I would say that iw as a stupid rule! I can imagine Shane Burnham saying something like this or saying that he didn't know that he was supposed to log dropped calls because it is hard enough to remember all the rules that make sense. And then it shows up in the report.

I wish that the reporters would just give the relevant facts. If Miller is going to write an article about the violations being "major," why didn't he make reference to the statement by an NCAA rep who said described this as being about as minor as it could be in the "major" category?

I have a couple of theories about this. The first is that for years the Register has hyperventilated about issues of transparency and any hint of controversy with public institutions. That can serve a useful watchdog role, but sometimes it veers into the ridiculous.

Case in point: the Harkin Institute at ISU. While it was no doubt a source of controversy, the Register breathlessly reported every. single. item. as if it were North Korea with its finger on the button - when most people don't know or care about academic freedom, a senator's papers, or what it all means. The Register stoked the controversy so that the whole thing was played out in public, when what the Harkin Institute really needed was to get the right group of people around the table - out of the spotlight - to hash out whatever differences existed. The University of Iowa has been a victim too; while the UofI is no doubt an arrogantly and sometimes sloppily run institution, some of the stuff the Register has chosen to highlight in the last 2-3 years, or the tone it takes in highlighting certain things, is so silly as to be trivial.

My second theory is that cutbacks at the Register really hurt on in-depth stories like this that require explaining and context for people to really understand it. They don't have the resources or time (or possibly the inclination) to really dig deep into this stuff and find out what it really means. They did publish a story this afternoon with some experts on NCAA penalties, but they really got whupped by the Ames Trib in the last 24 hours.

 

[Cycsk]

Or we can blame it on the editors. Generally, I like the pieces by Miller, but I wonder if his editor cut out parts that were less sensational or that brought the inflammatory tone down too far. And I doubt if the writers are responsible for the headlines. I think those are the editor's decision.

 

[Trice]

Or we can blame it on the editors. Generally, I like the pieces by Miller, but I wonder if his editor cut out parts that were less sensational or that brought the inflammatory tone down too far. And I doubt if the writers are responsible for the headlines. I think those are the editor's decision.

I just read this piece from the Register, and it is VERY thorough and seems pretty even-handed. So credit where credit is due.

 

[jsb]

I just read this piece from the Register, and it is VERY thorough and seems pretty even-handed. So credit where credit is due.

Really? I thought it was still a bit over the top. They don't do a very good job of talking about the less than 50 really bad calls and the 1400 undocumented calls (which should be distinguished). And they still talk about Iowa State not answering questions even though Iowa State has said the NCAA doesn't want them to and they released a 600 page report. All of the freaking answers are probably in those 600 pages.

God help us if a school in this state ever have real violations. There won't be enough ink in the world.

This whole thing was worth maybe 3 articles. One when they did the release last week. One when the REgister decided the regents hadn't been contacted, which should have been contradicted when they realized they were wrong, and one this week when they got their hands on the report. And maybe one column from Bryce Miller.